Dawn is sneaking up on Ceres from behind.
On March 6, this well-traveled spacecraft slipped into orbit around the dwarf planet (or asteroid; take your pick) after having spent 14 months orbiting the asteroid Vesta and more than two years in transit to Ceres. But Dawn’s approach to Ceres is from its unlit side. Pictures taken on the approach to orbit revealed two bright spots that have scientists intrigued as to their nature. The best guess is water ice, but the details await higher-resolution images.
In this diagram below of the approach to Ceres, the view is from the side, with Ceres’ north pole at the top of its disc, and the sun to its left. I’ve darkened the unlit side of Ceres to make this more obvious. Dawn’s current (April 18) approximate position is marked by the yellow X. The white circles mark one day intervals along the path.
You can see that for the last several weeks, Dawn has had only Ceres’ dark side in view. Once the spacecraft is in its initial science orbit, it will be able to see the entire surface as it rotates beneath. But we finally have some images released of the sunlit north pole of Ceres. Enjoy this animation as we await the unveiling of yet another previously unexplored solar system body!
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